Abuse of state resources not a thing of the past

As of Wednesday (August 12), the Department of Elections had received a total of 1,288 complaints since the announcement of the 2015 General Election. They have also been reported 484 incidents of illegal election propaganda. An official of the department speaking to The Nation said that 195 cases related to illegal appointments, promotions, 147 cases of misuse of public property and 171 cases of illegal distribution of rations have been reported to them.

The Campaign for Free and Fair Elections (CaFFE) had received 1,456 complaints so far. Out of which 1,349 complaints are related to election law violations and 107 incidents are incidents related to election violence. According to CaFFE, a total number of 488 cases of misuse of public property and 815 complaints of illegal election propaganda were recorded to them.

Meanwhile, People’s Action for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL) had received a total of 1,060 complaints. Out of which 139 complaints were related to acts of violence, 131 complaints with regard to abuse of state power, resources and misusing state sector employees, 482 cases of carrying out illegal election propaganda and 44 complaints of illegal appointments, transfers. It was also revealed that they have received 392 incidents related to election law violations which were done by party supporters and members of United National Party (UNP), 376 incidents by the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) and 34 cases attributed to the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) were reported to PAFFREL.

Transparency International Sri Lanka (TISL) which mainly focuses on cases related to misuse of state property had received a total of 266 up to Wednesday. Out of which 28 incidents were reported of using state officials for election campaign purposes and 55 complaints with regard to misuse of state property. According to TISL the highest number of complaints has been reported against UPFA, which is 127. However, 115 complaints against UNP and 15 complaints against JVP were also received by TISL.

Meanwhile, the police had arrested 677 persons with regard to election law violations. Police Media Unit said 542 suspects had been arrested in 242 raids conducted by police. The police had also received 294 complaints regarding election related incidents. A total of 135 persons had been arrested over those complaints, it was further disclosed.